| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Midwestern United States/Southeastern United States |
| First service | 1915 |
| Last service | 1957 |
| Former operator(s) | Pennsylvania Railroad/Wabash Railroad/Baltimore and Ohio Railroad/Louisville and Nashville Railroad/Central of Georgia Railway/Atlantic Coast Line Railroad/Florida East Coast Railway |
| Route | |
| Termini | Chicago, Illinois St. Petersburg, Florida/Sarasota, Florida/Miami, Florida |
| Service frequency | Daily (1946;1954) |
| Train number(s) | Southbound: PRR: 201, L&N: 33, ACL-west Florida section: 33/ ACL-east Florida section: 95 Northbound: ACL-west Florida section: 32/ ACL-east Florida section: 94, L&N: 32, PRR: 200 |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Reclining seat coaches |
| Sleeping arrangements | Open sections and double bedrooms and compartments (1948) |
| Catering facilities | Dining car |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | Streamlined passenger cars by Pullman Standard |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Southland was a night train between Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station) and different points in western and eastern Florida from 1915 to 1957. In the early years it was called the New Southland.[1] It was distinctive among Midwest to Florida trains as its western branch was the only all-season mid-20th-century long-distance train passing from Georgia to Florida bypassing the usual passenger train hub of Jacksonville Union Station. The main operator was the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and pooling partners were the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and to lesser extent, the Wabash Railroad and the Florida East Coast Railway. For southeast bound -but not northwest bound- trips to Norfolk, Virginia, some coaches in 1946 diverged at Cincinnati along a Norfolk and Western Railway route. Northwest bound, travelers could switch trains at Cincinnati for heading towards Chicago.[2]